Monday, March 9, 2015

Love the person and reject fundamentalism!

My previous Ethical Musings post explored reasons people
find religious fundamentalism attractive. The post concluded that some people
turn to fundamentalism as a source of political power. Fundamentalism,
especially when adopted as a source of political power, unavoidably spawns
three evils.

First, fundamentalism promotes ignorance and devalues
non-religious sources of knowledge. Abundant evidence of this exists in the
United States. Christian fundamentalists oppose the teaching of scientific
theories such as evolution even though no credible alternative theory exists. They
also want to falsify U.S. history to fit their beliefs of American
exceptionalism and that the US was established as a Christian nation. Similarly,
Islamist fundamentalists close schools for girls and destroy important historical
artifacts.

Second, fundamentalism divides rather than unifies people. Opposition
in the name of Christian fundamentalism to full civil rights for all people
regardless of gender and gender orientation exemplifies this divisiveness. The
divisiveness is also evident in Sunni Islamist fundamentalists declaring that all
Shiite Muslims are apostates. Genuine tolerance, which is essential for people
to live in unity and harmony with one another, requires mutual respect in the
face of diversity. Fundamentalism produces an intolerance that demands
conformity to laws and norms the fundamentalist promulgates.

Third, fundamentalism is an early step toward religiously
motivated terrorism. A majority of people find religious fundamentalism of any
flavor unappealing. This means that fundamentalists represent a minority, generally
a disempowered minority. Non-state terrorism is a violent tactic or strategy
that the weak adopt because they see no viable alternative to right what they perceive
to be egregious injustice. Terrorism is always wrong because it targets the
innocent for the political benefit of others. Thus, Christian anti-abortion
terrorists bomb abortion clinics (a weak, non-state group targeting healthcare
providers the group deems guilty of murder). Islamist terrorists destroy the
World Trade Center (a weak, non-state group targeting business people they deem
guilty of anti-Islamic policies and, if nominally Muslim, of apostasy).

Fundamentalist religion provides both the motive and
justification for the terror attacks. The motive is to establish a more just
world. The group's conception of a more just world is religiously determined
and therefore not subject to discussion or compromise. Hence, the vision of a
just world is unique to each fundamentalist group and will inevitably be
incompatible with a secular democracy that respects the dignity of all persons
and a broad diversity of beliefs and values. Violent attacks that target non-group
members are justifiable because adherents of other (or no) religion are prima
facie guilty. Non-members implicitly, if not explicitly, reject the one true
way, i.e., the terror group's fundamentalist ideology.

As Christians, remaining silent in the face of Christian fundamentalism
is no longer excusable. We betray the one who taught that the truth will set us
free, who loved and respected all people equally, and whose disciples called knew
him as the Prince of Peace. Love the person and reject fundamentalism!